Topic(s): Old Testament, Bible Study

Bob Prichard

Moses revealed that “the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground. But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground” (Genesis 2:5-6). Thus we know that it did not rain upon the earth before the creation of man, but the Bible does not state directly that it did not rain from the time of the creation until the flood. Evidence indicates, however, that there was no rain upon the earth until God unleashed the rains of the flood.

The Bible makes no mention of any rain until the rains of the flood. This in itself is not strong evidence that there was no rain, but it does fit with other evidence that suggests that the world was much different before the flood, as indicated by what God told Noah after the flood. God promised that He would never again destroy the earth with a flood, and He promised Noah a sign. “And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth” (Genesis 9:12-13). We then see that the rainbow is a token from God for all mankind that He will never destroy the entire earth again with a flood. If it had rained before the flood, however, rainbows would have been common and thus would not have been any kind of new sign to Noah.

In his description of the creation week, Moses that on the second day of the creation, “God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so” (Genesis 1:7). The next verse says “God called the firmament Heaven” (Genesis 1:8). Since there were waters “under the firmament” and “above the firmament,” there were waters both on the earth, and above the firmament, or skies. Those waters above the firmament must have formed a great canopy of water vapor above the earth. This canopy would not have been visible, and thus would have allowed the rays of the sun to penetrate to the earth. The result would have been a green house effect on the earth. There is much geological evidence that this was the case. The worldwide distribution of warm weather animal fossils suggests that the earth once had a universal worldwide tropical climate. The worldwide warm mild climate would have inhibited the movement of great air masses as we see them today, so that rain would have been less likely.

Genesis 7:11-12 describes the source of the waters for the flood: “In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights.” The waters came from below the firmament, and also rained from above the firmament, apparently for the first time. It was such a tremendous volume of water that it rained forty days and night. Quite a bit of water for the very first rain!